This invention relates to a method and apparatus for replacing and securing a cranial piece in position to prevent it from shifting from adjacent bone edges during the process of knitting or healing.
Various surgical procedures require the temporary removal of a cranial piece to permit access to strategic areas of the brain. In order for the cranial piece and cranium to fully knit together and heal following such surgical procedures, the cranial plate or piece must be accurately positioned and secured back in place and all relative movement between opposing bone edges prevented during mending.
Although there are several devices used to rejoin bones other than the cranium, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,672,861, 4,516,569, 4,858,601 and 4,858,603, none of the devices disclosed in the above-listed patents are adaptable to the relatively thin flat structure of cranial bone. Furthermore, the forces acting on the bones for which the above-described patented devices are intended are quite different from the forces tending to shift cranial pieces out of position in the cranium.
An important disadvantage of prior art technologies and devices is the likelihood of disfigurement. The removed cranial plate frequently extends below the hairline, thus rendering scars visible; the use of prior art screw techniques or metal staples can result in aesthetically unacceptable scar tissue plainly visible on the patient's forehead.
In view of the foregoing, it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a permanent, non-disfiguring apparatus for securing a previously removed cranial plate in position in a cranium to prevent relative movement between opposing bone edges.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method for replacing and securing a cranial plate in position in a cranial opening.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a kit for securing a previously removed cranial plate in position in a cranium to prevent relative movement between opposing bone edges.